The smell of smoke Old Mr. Lingham had left behind still lingered in the hospital room. Kallen sat on the bed, Neo in a wheelchair, facing each other.
For the first fifteen minutes, neither spoke. Both were thinking.
Because everything that had happened over the past several days had just erupted all at once, in an unexpected way.
Both also understood clearly that their next choices would determine their future development, and were critically important.
Kallen finished thinking first. He waited a while, then, seeing that Neo was still thinking, reached for the grapes in the fruit basket on the bedside cabinet.
Before his hand touched the grapes, Neo looked up, indicating that he had finished thinking.
Kallen withdrew his hand.
Neo began, "Actually, the Moon Order God Church and the Reincarnation Church originally had a pretty good relationship. Of course, that's relative to the Order God Church. Their relationship was good by that standard."
Kallen said, "But the foundation for that good relationship disappeared after Reincarnation's defeat. The Moon Order God Church was already encroaching on the Reincarnation Church's territory and followers in the islands in that stretch of sea. The Moon Order God Church had also wanted to bring Dark Moon Island into its fold, but our Order God Church got there first.
"Also, at the peace conference on Dark Moon Island, the Reincarnation Church privately approached our Order God Church about its conflict with the Moon Order God Church."
"But now it seems that approach has lost its relevance." Neo folded his hands in front of him. "Especially after the Rilielsa incident in Reincarnation Valley. It inflicted further losses on the Reincarnation Church while also showing outsiders how weak it now is."
"Yes. That's why it's difficult for churches to form true alliances. When one member of